TO
get the best out of the trees in your garden is advisable to get rid
of irritants and all growth-thwarting features.

Some of the most
prominent irritants are the malformed shoots on a mango tree, dried
wood caused by ‘die back’ disease in citrus and roses, suckers
emerging from below the graft union in fruit trees, water shoots
emerging straight upwards with a round brittle stem overgrown leaves
and branches or twig pulled by the gardeners (due to unwieldy growth)
or broken due to rain or storm.

Malformed floral shoot of mango tree

It is advisable to
remove malformed shoots identified as a jumbled mass of confused
vegetative or floral growth that becomes brown and then a black mass
that keeps hanging on the tree supporting disease-spores and insects.
Remove it along with a little healthy portion. This will cause more
branches to appear behind the cut end. One or two of these may be
malformed. Keep on removing them.

During the rains, the
lambs of a tree become more prone to breaking due either to succulent
fresh growth or fruit-laden stems that make the head heavy. Whatever
be the cause, the broken limbs should immediately be removed. There
could be two conditions. Either the limb has been completely detached
or is still hanging on to the mother plant. In case of complete
detachment the stub left behind should be given a clean, round cut
with a pruning saw.

If this is not done, the unevenly broken
stub becomes a breeding place for insects, especially The Inderbela
species that bores into the stem and causes multi-pronged damage to the
tree.

You want an
identification of the insect? Its hiding place? And the kind of damage?
Well, most of you have seen it.

It bores into the main stem of the
tree. At the time of feeding it comes out of the hole and feeds on the
main stem bark and forms a web covering of its own excreta under which
it keeps hiding and feeding. Remove the web, find the hole and inject a
solution of 2.5 gm sevin dissolved in a litre of water. You can use
methyl parathion also (4 ml in a litre of water). Do not forget to plug
the hole with cotton swab or mud.